November 11, 2025 Devo

There are unscrupulous car dealers that will let people buy cars that they know the customer can’t afford. Usually, they are customers who have bad credit and a track record of not being able to keep up with their commitments. So the car dealer will tell them that even though they could never get a loan from a bank or credit union, he will finance the car for them. It will be for a ridiculous interest rate, which he justifies because the customer is a “risk.” But the customer isn’t a risk. They are actually almost certainly not going to be able to pay for the car. They will drive it for a number of months, but soon they won’t be able to keep up, and the car dealer will come and repossess the car. He will have pocketed their payments. He will then clean up the car and turn around and sell it again. What kind of person would do this? What kind of person would invite someone into a contract that they KNOW going in, the other person can’t live up to? Well, interestingly enough, God does. But with a whole different outcome.
When God entered into a covenant with mankind, He was under no illusion about our ability to live up to the agreement. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that we could never follow His laws or live up to our commitment to Him. He knew we would disobey. He knew we would fail. He knew we could never make full payment for what we owed. But instead of fleecing us and leaving us in our sin, He did the unthinkable. He made full payment for us. He not only guaranteed His end of the bargain, He guaranteed OUR END as well. That’s why the psalmist declares, “What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!” That statement was more true than he knew. Because we know now that name is Jesus.
So stop beating yourself up. Stop fretting over not being good enough, or holy enough, or that you’re doing enough. Because the truth is, you’ll never be any of those things. But God’s not worried about that. What He wants is your heart. He wants you to love Him with everything you have and to enjoy the abundant life He’s provided. You don’t have to look over your shoulder, expecting Him to kick you to the curb for not measuring up. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” is not the end of our story. It’s “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” God covered His part AND ours. That’s a deal you’ll never get anywhere else here on Earth. That’s God’s Word for you today.